[BBNZowner]

Personally I evaluate what mods are appropriate for the type of forum and then decide which of them are necessary / will actually enhance the users time there. The simple principle is best, and with less mods = less 3rd party stuff on the forum with the possibility of screwing things up.

Like you said, anti-spam is the priority. I have just Glowhost Spam-O-Matic and Spambot Stopper working and haven't had any spam since install (minus one human spammer got through, but posts got moderated automatically by the programs). Ozzy47 has a good post on his own forum though if you need something more secure.

Besides that I haven't got anything too fancy. A default avatar mod, a few mini mods and the Advanced Post Thank / Like mod from DBtech (my users have enjoyed being able to like posts - and I'm just trying to use some psychology employed by Facebook to get users active).

Really depends on your demographic and needs